Chapter I 

 THE NATURE OF LIFE AND OF LIVING MATERIAL 



The Nature of Science. A scienxe consists essentially of a 

 series of related principles or regularities which account in an 

 orderly and rational way for a group of facts that the human mind 

 may observe or be aware of. That is to say, Science is that type 

 of human interest which deals with order. The method and scope 

 of the Sciences may be made clear by paraphrasing an analogy 

 employed by a modern critic. Three men sit around a table on 

 which is a Mexican jumping bean, each interested to explain its 

 peculiar behavior. One starts with the preconceived idea that the 

 jumping of the bean is caused by a supernatural power. From this 

 he develops with flawless logic a clear and convincing conclusion 

 concerning the powers of the supernatural. The second man starts 

 with the premise that the motion of the bean is due to an emotional 

 state and with equally clear and convincing logic he arrives at 

 conclusions regarding the nature of the emotions. 



The third man, without any fixed preconceived notions, observes 

 and calculates the physical characteristics of the bean and of its 

 motions. Then he opens the bean and finds therein a small animal, 

 the wormlike larva of an insect. He, also by sound logic, draws the 

 conclusion that the motion of the bean is caused by a physical 

 phenomenon, the motion of the larva within. The third man is the 

 scientist and Science first and foremost is characterized by the ab- 

 sence of fixed preconceived explanations. Science sets itself the task 

 of opening the bean, and to carry the analogy still farther, of open- 



